Sinking
by Mangmaster2012
Summary: when ellis makes a horrifying discovery, how will he change? and how far will he go to make sure he doesnt lose someone else?
1. Discovery

Sinking

A Left 4 Dead Story

Genre-Romance/Tragedy

Couple-Ellis and Zoey

Chapter 1

The sun hung low in the trees, casting a sort of eerie calm over the forest. "Y'know, if not for the zombies this would be a nice setting wouldn't it?" a young mechanic asked of his four fellow survivors. The oldest-Coach-looked back at the boy and smirked before simply stating "I guess "in response. Nick-true to his nature-simply rolled his eyes and kept walking. Ellis just laughed it off, never losing his sense of pride of the beauty of his home state, still though, behind that pride lurked an uneasy feeling of fear that you tend to develop in an apocalypse. At first he thought the reports were a bunch of bull, I mean, zombies? But, those jokes were silenced long ago. Turns out, everything was true, but by the time the authorities warned everyone, it was way too late. The infection spread through savannah like it was nothing, and turned many of his friends into "monsters" as many called these once-people, including his friend Dave, who Ellis was forced to kill. Tears came to his eye as he thought of the girls behind him, who had similar situations. The first-Rochelle-lost contact with her father and mother in Ohio about three days before the first sick showed up in Georgia. Ellis hoped they were okay, but what are the odds? Ohio's last evacuation center was overrun long before even half of the immune were saved. Then there was the other one, Zoey. Ellis felt his throat tighten as her story came to his mind. Out of all five of them, she had lost the most. Prior to the infection, Zoey was a college student studying to be an actress, although you wouldn't know it by looking at her. When the virus hit, she attempted to save her father and mother, but was too late. Although they were both immune, Zoey's parents were swarmed by the infected. Afterward, she met up with her old team of Louis, Francis, and Bill. Together, they managed to get transportation to the south, but the funny thing about the apocalypse is that you never know when it's going to throw a wrench in your plans. They lost Louis to a rouge charger; Bill was boiled alive in spitter acid, and Francis was thrown off a cliff by a tank. "Yoo-hoo! Earth to Ellis! You coming to the safe house or what?" Zoey's voice ripped him from his thoughts and he realized he was the only one not inside. "Y-Yeah. Sorry, ya'll "he said running in, he heard coach clamp the door shut behind him.

"Okay, here's the situation. We are stuck in a swamp with no car. Any ideas?" Coach said, eyeing a map. Ellis turned to Zoey and Rochelle with his standard big grin. "Anything, ladies? The fellas always do this part. Why don't you take a turn?" he said very politely. Zoey giggled and blushed slightly, but eyed the map of the area with intent. "Got it! This plantation house is circled. See? Whoever had this last wrote, "Boat Rescue" next to it. What do you think Ro'?" she asked her. Rochelle, seeing the map and scanning the other areas nodded. "I think she's right. Look at this-every evac center except that house has "Overrun" written next to it. So, we should go there before we have to add that place to the list." She stated. "that is the craziest idea I have ever agreed with. Nice work Rochelle." Nick stated. Ellis smirked at Zoey and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Nice work. I knew you could do it." He said. Before she could respond, Coach kicked open the safe room door with a cry of "Save it for later you two!" as he ran into the swamp shotgun going off every few feet, with Nick trailing close behind. Rochelle and Zoey cracked up at Ellis fallen face, but they all three ran out regardless. Ellis mowed down a few infected with his AK-47 before something in the mud suddenly moved and caught hold of his ankle, dragging him along into the deeper water. "H-H-Help! I need help!" he screamed over the horde that was approaching fast through the trees. Zoey, sensing this, aimed her pistols into the water and after a few well-placed shots, Ellis felt the tug slack and then vanish. "T-Thanks, Zoey." He yelled over the noise turning instantly and planting three zombies with fire from his weapon. Zoey, although both impressed and amazed at how fast Ellis seemed to bounce back, was overcome with common infected a sense of urgency overcame her, as she screamed for help from anybody who could hear her. "Get off her you brain-eating freaks!" she heard him scream as he hacked at the monsters with his machete. After they were dead, Ellis lifted her up and proceeded to use his health kit on her, bandaging her wounds. "T-There. That should hold till we get to the safe house." He said, smiling painfully. This did not go unnoticed as Rochelle approached him with her kit, but Ellis waved her off, blood pouring from several of his wounds. "I told ya I'm fine. That mud man just surprised me is all." He said, wincing slightly, again waving off potential healers, this time Zoey. He smiled warmly at her concerned look. "You keep it. Your safety matters more to me than mine." He said, although pain was still radiating through him. Coach was about to reprimand Ellis for his stupidity when a collective scream ripped through the air, signaling the approach of the horde, causing Nick to yell "Everyone in position!" Everyone turned toward the advancing zombies, with five concentrated bursts, Ellis flattened half of the monsters himself. Zoey turned to congratulate him, when she heard him scream in pure agony, chilling hers and everyone else's blood. "Ellis! Ellis, where are you?" they screamed, panic overwhelming even Nick. "Hey! Look over there ya'll!" Coach cried. They all turned to see Ellis's trucker cap floating in the murky water, blood-stained brim and all. Zoey was the first there as she held it in her fingers, tears welled in her eyes. He couldn't be. He just couldn't! "NO! ELLIS! IF THIS IS ONE OF YOUR JOKES I'M NOT LAUGHING!" she yelled in every direction, still crying. Nick was the first to speak, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look Zoey, I'm upset too-we all are- but screaming your head off is just going to attract more of them. Would Ellis want you to get yourself killed?" he said sadly. Zoey looked at him and shook her head softly. "I guess not. I just can't believe it." She muttered. As they walked forward through the swamp, they heard a violent coughing sound. Their first instinct was that it was a smoker, but they listened better. This cough sounded _human_. "I say we check it out." Nick stated. Coach grunted while Rochelle merely nodded. They followed what appeared to be a mixture of blood and swamp muck through the dense underbrush fearing the worst when the sound stopped. They stepped through the last low branch and every person let out a gasp, even Nick. There, under the shade of a big tree, lay Ellis-minus his hat, which Zoey had stuck into her bag-bleeding out, with the tongue of a smoker still around his ribs. The smoker was hunched down, the wound from a magnum bullet still oozed strange black blood. Zoey reached him first, and proceeded to shake him violently. "Ellis? Can you hear me? Ellis, please wake up." She said, her voice growing more panicked with every word. When the young man did not stir, her eyes began to shimmer with the tears she had held back earlier. Nick just lowered his head, silently honoring his fallen comrade. Rochelle sobbed into Coach's chest while the big man himself also had started to cry, although not as much. "Boy, were going to miss your goofy stories." He muttered. Zoey would not even look up at them, her eyes still on the not-moving mechanic. "No… of all the people I've lost, why him? WHY?" she choked on a sob at the last part of her sentence. She bent down and kissed Ellis on the lips very softly, "I'll miss you." She said as she stood. They turned to leave when they heard a gruff voice say, ""Ya'll aint leaving' are ya?". In absolute awe they turned and saw Ellis looking at them, his trademark grin plastered on his face, though his eyes were slightly duller than usual. Zoey-unbelievably to everyone, even herself-laughed, though it was a sad chuckle at best. She ran forward and removed the wrap from him and took out her medkit, frowning when he attempted to wave it off. "No arguments this time. You are going to die if I don't do this. And I don't think your in any shape to stop me." She said, a joking tone in the last part. Ellis merely chuckled and nodded, so Zoey went to work while the others questioned the boy. "What happened? One minute, your mowing down zombies, the next, we find you half dead." Coach said. Rochelle had bent down to help, but still said, "Yeah, I mean we could easily had left you hear if it wasn't for your coughing." Ellis smiled weakly. "Well, after I killed off some of that horde, I felt something wrap around me. I pretty much knew it was a smoker, but he wrapped it around my cuts from the mud men, so all I could do was scream. As he pulled me, I dropped my AK, so I managed to pull out my magnum and put a bullet through his head. After that, I couldn't get up, and I could see you guy's leaving. All I could do was cough, and well….. Here we are!" he finished his tale with a mock cheering motion. Zoey, having finished healing him, stood him up with Rochelle's help, smiled weakly. "Yeah, well, let's hear one of your Keith stories. That will cheer me- I mean us!- up. Nick had begun to say something like "Why do you encourage him?", but stopped short seeing that at the mention of that name, Ellis lost the little gleam that was left and his eyes became slightly wet with tears. "L-Look could you help me over to the smokers body for just a moment?" he said to the two girls. Both looked shocked, but neither objected they lowered Ellis down, and to their absolute shock, he began crying. "I'm so sorry I could not save you. Now look at you! I-" he did not finish. Despite his injuries, he ran without waiting. They saw him run into the safe room and clang the door shut. Zoey bent down to examine the smoker and got the others attention. "Guys? You'll want to see this." She said after looking over the body closely. The smoker was wearing a pair of blue jeans and an old mechanic shirt, faded and torn, but the back of it still could be read-Savannah Mechanic service. "Okay, I don't see why this freaked the kid out so badly." Nick muttered. "Yeah. It's not like we don't see this a whole lot anymore." Coach added. Only Rochelle and Zoey saw it, causing them to be very annoyed. "Were talking about the name tag, dummy." Zoey muttered. Both men looked down and saw, in bright red letters the name of who this person was. "No way… this can't be right." Nick said. Coach nodded in understanding this time. "Believe it, Nick. My god, no wonder the kid looked so upset." He said. The smokers name tag read "Keith". Shaking their heads they made their way into the Safe house without another word. Nick took the first watch, while Zoey, Rochelle, and Coach cooked some food. When it was done, Zoey took her food and Ellis's share to the room he was in. She knocked softly and a hoarse "Come in" was her answer. Slightly taken aback by how depressed Ellis sounded Zoey opened the door to see the young man flipping through a copy of Tom Sawyer while sitting on the bed. "Keith's favorite book….." he trailed off as he answered the question on her face. She sat the food down next to him, although he did not even look up. "I, uh, found your favorite-Tomato soup-but you'll have to eat it cold. We also found some graham crackers." She said motioning toward the spread. Ellis managed a small grateful smirk and spooned some of the red liquid into his mouth. "Thanks Zoey. I'm sorry I'm being such a downer." He muttered to mostly himself though she still heard him. She smiled sadly and wrapped her arm around his waist, causing him to be pulled into the hug. He was surprised, but did not resist it. "I am so sorry that you had to find him like that. I'm sure he went down fighting, right?" she whispered into his ear, earning a thankful squeeze from him. "I know, it's just that….. We always swore that we would meet up in New Orleans ya know? But we got separated about two days before I meet the others and you." He said, sadness absolutely dripping from him. They broke apart, but kept their arms around each other. "Yeah, but, finding me made you forget?" she said. Ellis flashed a shadow of his classic grin, "Yeah. thanks for that." He said again. "No problem." she smiled.


	2. Changed

Chapter 2-Flashbacks

Three days had passed since the discovery of Keith, and ellis was still a wreck. He put on a brave face, but the others heard him crying in his sleep all night, so they knew the truth. It broke zoey's heart to see him like this. Of all the survivors, he had helped lighten the mood. Not anymore it seemed. Gone was the ellis of the old days that would tell a story just at the right moment, or make childish jokes just to see everyone smile. This ellis was cold, to the point where they wondered if he would ever be normal. No one took this worse than Zoey though. She was all alone until the others found her, and Ellis had been a constant companion from the start. "When are we going to get to rest? I'm beat." Rochelle said, barely moving she was so tired. Nick spotted the searchlights coming from the plantation and smiled at her. "Not too much longer. About… a quarter mile?" he said. The sound of Rochelle slapping him and nicks following "OW!" drew giggles from Zoey and Coach, but Ellis just continued to walk, never even smiling.

When they reached the safe room inside the house, they discovered it was deserted. Or to use the words nick used-"This goddamn place is no different from any other we've been seeing!" They fanned out gathered up all the food, ammo, and other things they would need. They found a hand-scrawled note from who they guessed was the owner of the house which simply said-"use the radio out back, and we'll come get ya-Virgil walker" so they decided that was their best option, but they wanted to rest up first. Nick and Coach used the two couches downstairs, while Ellis and the girls used the three bedrooms upstairs. Zoey turned and hugged Ellis, "good night" she smiled. To her delight he smiled back, although it was a far cry from his old goofy grin, she was happy to see it. "goodnight. See ya in the morning." He said, closing his door. She said her goodnight to Rochelle and let sleep overtake her as soon as she laid down.

**Flashback/Dream**

Zoey huddled in the safe room, crying her eyes out. Just now, she had lost the last member of what had become her adopted family. "Francis. Why him too? Why?" she had done the same when they had lost Louis, and then Bill not 3 days later. But this was different. Those other times, someone had been there with her. With Francis dead, she had no one. "Wonder how long ill last now?" she thought bitterly. She was drawn out of her chasm of thoughts by loud clanging up the steps that led to her room. "Huh. Coming to finish the job?" she said grabbing her pistols. The door flew open, but a voice cried "Whoa! Easy, now. I'm normal I swear. The young man in the trucker hat cried. An actual person was in front of her. Another immune. The shock forced her to black out. When she awoke, a series of voices were speaking about her. "We are NOT taking her with us. 4 mouths are enough of a stretch. Especially when you factor in Coach." A male voice said. Another one cried "HEY!" while a female voice laughed. She got up and walked into the kitchen area to see the 4 of them sitting around a box they were using as a table. When the young man saw her, he offered her his can of food. " 'Names Ellis." He said smiling.

**End of dream**

That was how it started. Ellis refused to leave without her, so the others gave in. As they fought through this hell, the two became close. Ellis would almost die for her several times. One time, he even shoved her aside and let a witch hit him in her place. If she hadn't have had that d-fib unit…. She pushed the thought away. They always slept near each other, and told each other everything. She laughed a little when she remembered the first time they kissed. Ellis was the REDDEST she had ever seen. But one thing she was serious about-She loved Ellis. Not like a brother, but she was in love with him. She had been sure of that for a while. Now, that warmness that she had fallen for was gone. He put up an act, but she could tell he wasn't the same. She had never said "I love you" to him yet, but right then she made a promise. "Ill tell him today. If I don't, I might lose him." If only Zoey knew how true those words would end up being. In the next instant, there was a crash and a loud scream-Ellis

**And there it is. Sucks I know. I need at least 4 reviews for this chapter before I update. And trust me- you won't want to miss that, so Review! Tell your friends!**


	3. Fall of a hero

Chapter 3- The fall of a hero

Zoey burst into Ellis's room to find the young man writhing inside his sheets, clearly suffering a nightmare. "Ellis! Wake up, come on now." She aid to him softly. Finally he cracked open his eyes, and hugged her fiercely the instant he saw her, overjoyed to be free of whatever the nightmare was... "I-I was walking through the woods, and I saw a zombie, so I shot it and…." He burst into tears before he could finish. Zoey was shocked. Ellis had always seemed to take joy in killing zombies, but he had a nightmare about killing one? Then it hit her. "It was Keith again wasn't it?" she said. To her slight surprise, he shook his head. "Worse. So much worse." He breathed deeply before finishing, more tears brimming his eyes. "It was you." He said simply. She gasped slightly, but hugged him tighter. "Hey, im right here. Hearts still beating and everything. You're not getting rid of me that easy." She joked. Ellis just layed back down, still breathing heavy from the shock. "Okay. I'll try to get back to sleep. Thanks." He added with a small smirk. She left and within seconds she heard his snores. He did not wake again.

The next morning Ellis sat in the living room of the house, silently reloading his shotgun while listening to Coach's instructions. "Were going to use that radio to get Virgil here. But the feedback might cause a horde to come. Ya'll ready for a fight, just in case?" he said surveying the room. No one objected, so they broke down the flimsy back door that lead to the radio, the cheap plywood caved in almost instantly. Zoey heard Nick mutter "And yet we wonder why these barricades never hold…" under his breath. Ellis reached the radio and yelled for any help. The man said he was on his way then-just as Coach had thought-a collective shriek pierced the calm house signaling the horde. "I hate it when your right Coach!" Nick yelled. Coach merely said "So do I." in return. They cocked their guns and got ready.

The horde was not without its special infected to help it out. Ellis quick shooting though flattened most of them. Ellis was so in tune today. Zoey couldn't believe the look of ferocity in the normally-calm boy's face. Then, all his momentum vanished when spitters slime hit him square on the chest. He fell to the ground screaming in horrible pain. Zoey bent down and tried to heal him, but he just used his adrenaline shot, and was up and running again. The turning point hit when the gate behind them was blasted open to reveal a boat waiting at the end of the dock. Fighting through the pain, Ellis was the only straggler. 2 Ferocious tanks roared behind him. Zoey rushed and began to help him, all the while the boat was heating up. As soon as they were on, Coach cried "GO!". Virgil didn't need to be told twice. As the boat pulled away, one of the tanks picked up a chunk of concrete and flung it. It was heading for Zoey. "NO!" Ellis cried and shoved her to the side, causing the concrete to catch him in the side of the head. He fell to the deck, blood pouring from his wounds. Zoeys voice was all he heard before he slipped into utter darkness. He thought he heard her say "Not him too!" but he wasn't sure.

**Next chapters the last! I just need 4 more reviews, so don't wait! Hope you enjoyed it.**


	4. Ellis in trouble

**This is it. I decided to make this chapter a little longer based on a couple of the reviews I got. So I hope you like it.**

Ellis eyes burst open as he heard the pounding rain and thunder outside the room he was in. A quick survey told him he was in the cabin of the boat that had picked him and the others up from the plantation house. He flew out of bed and crashed open the cabins door. Nothing. Nobody was out on the deck to greet him. Just the constant storming. He climbed up the ladder and found a note that appeared to have been written by Coach. Snatching it up, Ellis sat down by the steering wheel and began to read.

_Ellis,_

_If you wake up while were gone, I wanted to leave this so you don't flip out. Everyone's fine, the boat just got real low on gas, so we stopped here to get some fuel. Virgil decided to go with us since you were still out of it, and we needed a fourth member. You need to stop pulling crap like that boy. You had poor Zoey in a fit. There was plenty of times we thought you had died. Anyways, just relax. Virgil is real good with this area, and he can shoot almost as good as you, so we should be back soon. Don't worry-we won't let them lay a finger on Zoey. You have our promise on that._

_Coach._

_PS-Zoey said she's gonna kill you for making her worry like that._

Ellis chuckled and stuffed the note in his pocket, thinking of the last part. True enough, what he had pulled was slightly stupid, but after losing so much, he just could not lose Zoey. He wouldn't be able to stand it. But what could he do now? He had no clue where they went, this boat didn't have anything entertaining, and worse, Zoeys safety nagged at him more than ever now that he wasn't there with her. "Whats the harm in me going?" he said, picking up a shotgun and jumping onto the dock, he ran into the night, determined to find the others. "Just hang on guys. I'll be there real soon." He promised as the rain and thunder picked up again.

**With Zoey and the others (sugar mill)**

Zoey crouched down inside the ruined sugar mill, clinging to her gas can as the storm rattled the destroyed building. The others didn't even need to ask what she was worried about, so Nick spoke up about it. "For the last time Zoey-Ellis will be fine. You remember the carnival? If he can survive falling off a roller coaster, believe me, nothings taking him down." He said. Zoey wasn't entirely convinced, though. "That was different. When that happened, he was wide awake and at least I could tell he was alive. But this… seeing him not move at all for 2 days, it killed me." She said. Coach sighed as the storm broke again. "Well we'll find out when we get to him wont we? Vigil, how much longer till another storm flares up?" Coach said. The older man simply smirked. "Just cause I used to live here don't mean I'm god. But, id reckon we got 'bout another 15 minutes, so we best move." He said, leading the way. No one objected and began to move, the loud rain still coming down.

**Back with Ellis**

Ellis wandered through the street of the deserted-sort of anyway-suburb. He couldn't help but admire the handiwork of his teammates. Dead zombies lined the blacktop. He noticed several of them were Zoeys handiwork. "That's my girl." He thought proudly. As he continued to walk, he failed to take into account one thing-Blood, even other zombie blood-is a zombie magnet. The distant, yet familiar cry vaulted him into survival mode. He began unloading shotgun shells into the oncoming monsters, not even hearing the familiar cry of a hunter behind him. He turned in time to see it, and managed to put a shell in its left thigh, but it still pounced him. Ellis was not about to die here, and due to the hunters wound, it was weaker. Ellis managed to shove it off him and plant a shell square between its forehead. However, the ground shaking alerted him to something far worse. "Ah, man. That aint fair!" he yelled as the tank rounded the corner and charged him.

It chased him all around as he pumped shell after shell into its massive body. He noticed a safe room sign out of the corner of his eye, but there was no chance of beating this tank in a foot race-not in his weak condition anyway-so he thought of something-blow it up. He had seen some propane tanks on his way through. If he could lead the tank that way-boom. As he approached, the tank slowed slightly, finally showing some damage. That was all Ellis needed. He jumped over the railing of the truck and tossed the heavy cans in front of the monster. The tank actually stopped, not knowing why his prey had stopped running. "Burn in hell." Was all He said before he shot the cans setting off the reaction. That was not a good idea. Ellis was in such a hurry, he didn't throw them far enough from himself, so he was caught in the blast as well. The shock from the impact caused him to crash spine-first into the steel of the safe room door, which he had been heading too. Pain radiating through his body, he crawled inside and leaned against the counter of the kitchen inside. "Damn it. I really did it this time. Sorry Zoey… I really am." He said. His final thought before he slipped into a flood of dark, blood dripping from his head.

**Okay, I know I said this would be the last one, but I came up with something else. So the next one will definitely be it. Remember-4 reviews. Sorry I told you wrong. But hey-I bet you'll want the next one soon right? So review!**


	5. Preparing for a fight

**Here you go. Sorry for making you guys wait so long.**

Zoey and the others had heard the tanks explode from the safe room they were in. Zoey, who had hung out with Ellis long enough, knew what that could mean. "No way…. Guys?" she said turning to the others, who seemed to think the same thing. "Let's go, no more time to waste." Coach said leading the way out onto the streets-only to find them practically empty. Ellis was smarter than they thought. The infected powerful sense of smell couldn't handle the massive wave of propane smell that clung in the air. Ellis had essentially cleared the way for them. Their thoughts were confirmed when they found a hunters corpse with a shotgun shell in it. None of them had a shotgun with them. "Yep. It's Him alright." Nick said smirking. Zoey breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that he was up and around-or so she thought…

They followed the trail of overturned cars and broken concrete to the safe room they had passed earlier, and the one Ellis had apparently ran to. "So, what are you going to say when you see him?" Rochelle asked her. Zoey smirked-"I'll probably hug him… then slap him for making me worry about him so much." She said. Rochelle just laughed. "He only does stuff like that 'because he cares about you. He talks about you all the time you know?" she said. Zoey was slightly taken aback. "He does? Like when?" she asked. "Like whenever you leave the safe room with Coach or Nick to look for supplies. All he does is look out the window and say "I hope she's alright". You have no clue how much you mean to him." She finished as they opened up the room to the safe house. Their eyes fell instantly on Ellis, who was still knocked clean out-or so it appeared.

"Ellis? Can you hear me? Ellis!" Zoey said, feeling her panic rise. To everyone's relief, he opened his eyes, though the pain was still evident in them. "H-Hey ya'll. How are ya?" he said simply, almost as if he were talking over the phone. "Were fine, but what about you? You look like death." Nick said, earning another punch from Rochelle. "I couldn't be better. In fact, I'm just about ready to go!" he yelled, throwing his hands in the air, but instantly recoiled in pain. "Ellis!" Zoey said. The young man shook his head and jumped to his feet. "Well, we aint going to get to the river sitting here huh? Let's roll!" he yelled kicking down the door that led back to the dock by the burger tank.

Ellis ran inside the restaurant, scanned quickly then told the others to come on in. "Alrighty then, I'll keep them zombies busy while ya'll fill up the boat." He said. No one was sure of that plan, particularly Zoey. "You sure you're up to that boy? You aint looking right." Coach pointed out the obvious. But Ellis shook off the concerns and went over to the fuel pump they would have to use to restock the gas into the tank. "I'll go upstairs and trigger the pump" he said heading for the ladder while everyone else headed for the boat. Zoey was the last one out, so she stopped him. "You be careful up there, you hear me?" she said. Ellis gave her a warm smile-or as best a one as he could manage in his weakened condition-and merely said "All right. I will." Before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. They held their kiss for 3 minutes before Coach was calling for Zoey. "Guess you got to get out there. I'll see ya in a bit. Love you." He finished with a wink. She smiled warmly and said "I love you too." Before going outside with the others.

**I know you'll be mad, but since this story will have a bad ending, I decided to split the final chapter into two. One ends nice while the other wont. Next chapter-The final fight and the death of a friend. 4 more reviews please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, this is definitely the last chapter. First, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my terrible first story. I also have a surprise for my loyal readers, but just read the chapter first.**

"Alright Ellis, Start the pump!" Coach yelled up to him. When Ellis vanished from his view Coach turned to the others with a serious look. "Look ya'll I don't think that boys 100%. He's coughing a lot, clenching in pain every time he does the simplest thing. I was a football coach, I know bad injuries, and that boys got one." He said. Nick did not seem convinced, "Come on, Coach. If there's one person you don't have to worry about when it comes to how much pain he can take, it's Ellis." He said. Zoey spoke up at this, "Were not questioning that he'll put up with it Nick-quite frankly, I don't even think Francis could take as much as Ellis does-were wondering if maybe he's pushing himself too far." Everyone fell silent, and silently resolved to discuss this later.

Ellis made his way over the roof towards the pump as fast as he could go, "Alright, just got to start the pump and-*Hack*" he collapsed in a vicious coughing fit, but this time when it stopped and he looked at his hand, It was coated in blood. "Damn it. I thought I had longer than this. Well, if I'm going down anyway, im taking as many of these bastards with me as possible" he said. He reached the bright red pump and prepared himself. "Alright, here it comes ya'll!" he screamed down throwing the switch causing a loud grinding sound. Not 2 minutes later, the cry of the horde erupted though the air. Ellis shoved a clip into his M-16 as he saw the first few commons and one boomer climb over the fence. "Lock and load baby!" he yelled as he began to fire.

As promised, the zombies seemed to be focusing on Ellis, who was mowing them down with no issue-or so they thought. As Ellis finished off a couple boomers who tried to attack together, another coughing fit washed over him, and he soon realized his number was just about up-more blood was coming up than ever now. His vision began to blur as the coughing persisted. There was no way he was going to let these things turn him into a meal. But what could he do? "Ellis! The boats all filled up! Come on down!" he heard Zoey yell to him. He began to run towards the ledge to jump down, but his legs gave out on him, and the zombies were closing in. "Damn… is this really how I'm going to check out?" he said. He resolved to jump, bad legs or not. He looked over the edge, held his breath-and jumped.

He landed on his good knee, luckily, so his impact was cushioned. Coach turned and said, "How in the hell you get down here so fast?" with a stunned look. Ellis merely shrugged, "I improvised. But those things will be right behind me, so I suggest we-"he was saying before the familiar roar and the shaking ground alerted them to the worst possible thing-a tank. Zoey and Rochelle ran out with their weapons, just as the monster rounded the corner. "Where the hell is Nick?" Coach yelled over the gunfire and the roaring of the behemoth zombie. "Passed out! He was too tired to stay awake!" Rochelle yelled back. The battle went slightly better than expected-until Zoey tripped, causing the tank to go to her.

Ellis, realizing the danger, pulled out his machete-his M-16 long out of ammo-and began to slice at the monsters massive chest. The zombie roared in pain and with one swing, sent Ellis flying into one of the support beams for the restaurant, bringing more blood to his mouth, as he slipped in and out of alertness, he spotted a propane tank and a gas can positioned just right-right at the tanks back. "Yeah…. That'll do just fine…." He said hobbling up to his feet. "Zoey! Coach! Run for the boat, I got this!" he yelled to his teammates. They looked at him like he was nuts, but did as they were told. Ellis ran for the boat as well, but again the tank caught him in the already-wrecked ribcage. Ellis-thankfully-landed on the boats deck. Zoey was by his side in an instant. Ellis, blood continuing to poor from his destroyed chest and ribs through his mouth unbelievably was smiling. "Burn… in…. hell." He said as he fired his magnum pistol at the propane tank. It exploded killing the tank in a hail of fire.

As the boat sailed down the river, Zoey attempted to save Ellis. But it was no good. There was no equipment in their med kits that could repair internal bleeding-and Virgil certainly wasn't going to have anything. Zoey began to cry, but Ellis put his hand on her cheek. "Hey now… no crying… at least were both okay…" he said before he coughed again. He WASN'T okay and he knew it, but why make her feel worse? "Just remember Zoey…. I regret a lot of things….. But I don't regret saving you…. I love you." He groaned. Zoey smiled through her tears, "I love you too." She said as his chest stopped moving. He did not stir again. Zoey sobbed into his chest as rain poured in on her. The others saw her, but that didn't matter to her-nothing mattered. Ellis was gone. The only person she had left who she truly loved was gone. And he wasn't coming back.

**I almost cried writing this! Thanks again for putting up with my terrible writing. Now for the surprise-I will let YOU dictate my next story. You have three choices- Another EllisxZoey, a NarutoxSakura, Or and IchigoxRukia leave your votes in your reviews. And tell me what you thougt of the story as a whole! Thanks again!**


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